The Science Of Alchemy
by Bookwrm389
Summary: On a rainy day in Resembool, four-year-old Al takes it upon himself to relieve his brother's boredom.


_A.N. For those who don't know, this is a complete rewrite of the very first story I published on this site. I explained in my profile why I'm rewriting it, and I'm VERY pleased with the result. I barely recognize it as the same story now! I think it's safe to say the original will not be going back up. EVER. I hope everyone enjoys the revamped version of how I think Ed and Al could have discovered alchemy._

The Science Of Alchemy

The thunderstorm caught all three children by surprise on the way home from school, rolling in so fast that Al spent a good thirty seconds staring up at the falling water in open-mouthed wonder while Ed snickered at him. Winry had already sprinted away moments before, holding her bag over her head and shouting indignantly at the laughing boys behind her. Unlike their shrieking counterpart, Ed and Al took the cloudburst in stride. Rain this heavy didn't come to Resembool very often, and tended to vanished within a few hours of starting, taking the mud and fun with it.

So they took their time on the walk home, jumping into puddles and mashing handfuls of sludge into each other's hair. Al joyfully followed his brother's lead in stuffing his itchy, close-fitting "school-shoes" in his bag so he could really dig his toes into the squishy ground. The fun only stopped when they ran out of breath, shivering and smirking at each other as they trudged home, and not even Mother's dismayed scolding at the sight of their muck-slicked clothes and drenched hair was enough to bring them down.

Next came the hot baths, the pajamas and warm blankets, the steaming cocoa and stew, and the general fussing over that neither boy was loathe to complain about. Al, for his part, heartily enjoyed the novelty and didn't even complain when he and Ed were sent to bed early so they could recuperate from the cold and wet. That night he wished the water droplets on his window a wistful farewell, hoping the rain would stay just a _little_ longer.

He really should have wished for something else.

Eight days. For eight solid _days_ the rain continued to fall, steady and monotonous, forcing the residents of the Elric household to stay inside at all times. Two days after the storm began, a very wet Granny Pinako stumbled in the door with word that school had been cancelled until the rain let up out of concern for the childrens' safety. One boy in Al's class had nearly been swept away by the river when it flooded out the bridge. Winry couldn't even come over despite being just over the hill.

No school, no going outside, no mudfights. Even at this age, Al could recognize a recipe for disaster. Ed spent much of his time banished to his room when his high exuberance and low tolerance for boredom got him into trouble on multiple occasions. He had already broken the radio, mother's handheld mirror, a chair, two cups, one plate, and assorted toys and dolls borrowed from Winry in his eternal quest for entertainment. According to Mother it was only a matter of time before he broke his _neck_, a concept which frightened Al beyond all reason. He had done his absolute best to be good for Mother while the rain went on, and now the four-year-old solemnly took it upon himself to find something safe for his big brother to do that would _not _lead to a broken neck.

It turned out to be a task easier said than done. Mother had left not long ago to get some necessities from the store, leaving Al with strict instructions to make sure Ed stayed in his bedroom until she got back as punishment for breaking her pearl necklace. Al wandered from room to silent room, nibbling on his lip as he brainstormed for solutions. The family room held no answers, nor did the kitchen or the bathroom or any of the closets. What he needed was a quiet activity that he could bring to Ed in his room, but they didn't have very many board games. Ed cheated and Al thought they were too easy to beat. There were always card games, but Ed cheated at _those _too.

Well, Al thought bleakly, he supposed Ed could always _read._ That was a quiet activity. The only problem was that they didn't have very many books. Ed had long ago outgrown their storybooks, and he had probably worked his way through the school textbooks months ago. No mere teacher was going to make _him _slow down and only read one chapter at a time, not when Ed could zip on ahead and dazzle his classmates with his knowledge.

Al straightened his shoulders with a purposeful glint in his eye. The solution was simple, really. All he had to do was find a new book that his brother hadn't read yet. Ed wouldn't be able to resist the temptation, and his neck would be safe for at least a few days.

But where to look? All that time spent indoors have given Al a newfound familiarity for every nook and cranny in their house, and he could not recall seeing an unread book. There was a small bookshelf in Mother's room, but on a second examination it only held photo albums. Al shuffled out of her room with defeat already worming its way into his heart. If he and Ed didn't have any new books and Mother didn't have any new books...

Al halted when he passed a certain door that this household usually pretended didn't exist. The only place in the house that he and Ed had never, ever seen.

Their father's study.

Al faced the door apprehensively, tendrils of curiosity already being crushed by the big flashing signpost in his head that screamed FORBIDDEN. He _shouldn't _go in there. Not _ever._ Mother had been very, very clear that they were to never go in their father's study. Al couldn't remember a time when he had ever even seen the door open. But _why _couldn't they go in there? Mother usually took the time to explain exactly why something was wrong or off limits. The stove and the oven, for example. They could get burned if they tried to use those. But this door didn't come with a dire warning. The mystery of that room was inexplicably tied in with the mystery of the man himself.

Did Dad read books? Al pondered that as he shifted from foot to foot before the study. It wouldn't hurt just to _look_, would it? Just one quick peek to make sure there were no books in there. As long as he didn't go _in _the study he wouldn't be breaking any rules.

Al nodded to himself and stepped closer, hunching his shoulders as the door loomed above him. A quick glance down the hallway ensured that the door of Ed's room was still firmly shut and that Mother had not yet returned. He put one little hand on the knob, surprised to find that the door opened just as easily as all the other doors in the house. Shouldn't it have been locked? Al leaned forward to peer at the study in awe. It looked perfectly ordinary for the most part, but the fact that he _really _wasn't supposed to be here layered everything with an aura of taboo. There was a desk and chair stacked high with manuscripts, a few diagrams on the walls, and...

_Books!_

Two whole walls of their father's study was taken up by bookshelves, floor to ceiling. Al gaped at the treasure trove before his eyes. There were hundreds of them! Okay, maybe not _hundreds,_ but a lot! And not one of those dusty spines looked familiar. This was better than Al had ever dreamed. This would keep him and his brother busy no matter how many rainy days they had to sit through!

But there was still a problem. How was Al supposed to get one of those books without going inside the study? The wood floor that barred his way to the precious volumes may as well have been an ocean. Al couldn't just run across it. Even in his mother's absence he strove to obey her as much as possible. He wanted to be able to say truthfully he had never _technically _been inside the room.

Besides, only the room was out of bounds. Mother had never said anything about the books.

Satisfied with his reasoning, Al pattered to the kitchen and grabbed the two little stools that Ed used to reach the counter. This would be tricky, but not impossible! He set the first stool on the floor just inside the study with the second one nearby. Al took a deep breath before crossing the threshold, crouching on the stool and carefully _not _touching the floor. Then he moved the second stool in front of him and transferred over to it, repeating the process again and again.

Like a frog hopping across lily pads, Al thought smugly. The frog was _not _in the water, and he was _not _in the study.

Technically.

It took a few minutes, but soon Al was at the base of the nearest bookshelf. He stood up fully to get a good look at them, balancing his weight on the stool. Most of these books looked very drab, but they must have _some _value for their father to keep so many. Al squinted at the faded titles. He prided himself on being a good reader, but some of these words were very confusing.

_Advanced Biochemical Engineering. _That sounded a little complex for a rainy day.

_The Ancient Civilization of Xerxes._ No, that wouldn't work. History was Ed's least favorite subject.

_Compendium of the Elements..._

_Contemporary Philosophers and their Theories..._

_Nicholas Flamel: the Genius of a Madman…_

Al smiled when he noticed a book titled _Modern Chemistry: A Molecular Approach_. That sounded promising! He had seen similarly titled texts in the hands of the older kids at school, and Ed _definitely_ wouldn't be able to resist learning a subject restricted to students ten years older than them. He had found the jackpot!

The book was on a shelf high above him. Even with the stool he could just barely reach it. Al stood up on his toes and curled his fingers over the top of the book's spine, easing it toward him, but it was stuck between two other very fat books. He grabbed it with both hands and planted his foot against the shelf to get better leverage. But his other foot was precariously close to the edge of the stool, and when Al heaved backward he slipped right off and tumbled to the floor. The motion dislodged the book he wanted as well as the two on either side of it. All three landed loudly beside him, one after another.

Al stared at the floor he was sitting on in horror. Then he scrambled to pick up the books, shoving them haphazardly onto the bottom shelf. Would Mother notice they had been moved? It didn't matter, there was no time! He had to get out of the study before Ed or Mother saw him! Al seized his target book and sprinted to the door, completely forgetting about the stools in his rush. He slammed the door shut behind him, breathing a sigh of relief in the safety of the hallway.

"Al, you're being _loud!_"

Al jumped at Ed's shout, whirling around. But his brother's bedroom door was still closed. Good. That was one less rule broken today.

Clutching the precious book to his chest, Al approached the lion's den that was Ed's room. His brother's temper fluctuated wildly between depressed apathy and hot, seething anger these days, and he got irritated_ very_ easily. Avoiding occupying the same room with him was the only sure way to remain safe from his ire. But if Al wanted to give his brother the book then he had no choice.

He gave the door a timid knock. "Can I come in, Brother?"

"Oh, rub it in my face, why don't you?" Ed drawled. "_You _can go in any room you want while _I'm _stuck in here staring at the stupid rain! Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Can I, Brother?"

Silence.

"Fine, come in..."

Al breathed a little easier at that and pushed the door open, locating his brother on the bed across the room. He was huddled against the headboard with his arms around his knees as he glared out at the gray, dismal world. "What?"

"Look, I found a book!" Al said with a big smile. He held up his prize, and all his enthusiasm fled when he caught sight of the title. _Practical Alchemy_. This wasn't the book he meant to bring! He must have gotten it mixed up with one of the books that fell down. That stupid stool!

"Read it yourself," Ed mumbled into his knees sullenly. "I won't read to you."

Al bit his lip in consternation. He couldn't go back to get the book he originally wanted. He had already risked enough the first time. All he could do now was try work with what he had. _Practical Alchemy._ Alchemy was like chemistry, wasn't it? They both had "chem" in the title, anyway. Maybe Ed would still like it. Al stepped up to the bed and set the book on the mattress beside his brother.

"I got it for you, Brother. So you wouldn't be bored!"

Ed's black look faded a little as he looked between his beaming little brother and the book. "I...thanks, I guess," he muttered, tugging the tome closer. "Where'd you get this? I haven't seen it."

Al blanched and hastily tried to cover. "It was...lying around."

"Lying around where?"

"Uh," Al faltered. "The, uh...the linen closet! Like, up on that top shelf we can't ever reach."

"So how did you reach it?"

"I...jumped?"

Al cringed when Ed frowned at him in distrust before returning his attention to the book. Ed pinched the cover between his fingers and opened it, running a hand over the acknowledgments section on the first page.

And his fingers paused beside a handwritten signature. _Van Hohenheim._

"Hohenheim?" Ed breathed. "_Hohenheim_?"

Al scrambled back when he violently kicked the book off the bed, sending it skidding under the dresser. Ed flung himself off the bed and advanced on his younger brother with a murderous look. "We're not supposed to go through _his_ stuff! Mom said so! You got this from his study, didn't you? _Didn't_ you?"

"I...yeah, but I..."

Ed poked Al's chest with one bossy finger. "Put it back. _Now._"

"But I just _got _it—!"

"And now you're going to put it back where you found it! Do you _want _me to tell Mom what you did?"

Hot tears spilled from Al's eyes, and he choked around the lump in his throat. All that effort and he had only made everything worse! Ed was yelling, and Mother might yell too when she got back, and then Ed would do something dangerous and get his neck broken, and his brother _hated _going to the doctor, even if it _was_ just the Rockbells—!

"Aw, Al," Ed whined. "Don't _cry_ about it."

A warm hand ruffled his hair, and Al took this as an invitation to fling his arms around his brother's waist. "I'm s-s-sorry, E-Ed! I j-just wanted to m-make you f-f-feel b-better..."

"I know," Ed sighed, pushing him back to hold him at arm's length. "But you've still gotta put the book back, 'kay? I don't want you getting in trouble because of me. I'm the bad one, remember?"

"You're _not_ bad," Al sniffed as he wiped his eyes with the hem of his shirt. "You just don't follow the rules."

"It's the same thing! Now go put the book back and we'll find something else to do, okay?"

Al brightened up at that. Maybe they wouldn't need the stupid book after all! He retrieved the book from under the dresser and cheerfully skipped down the hall to their father's study.

"Hey, Al."

Al paused on the threshold to see Ed watching him from his bedroom doorway, both feet still firmly within the boundary. Ed's eyes were locked on the door to the study and his words soft, speculative, wondering. "What's in there, anyway?"

"A lotta books," Al replied, looking back in the study. "And a desk and papers and stuff. Smells funny, too."

"Like, dusty?"

Al sniffed mightily, wrinkling his nose. "Um...I think it smells like old people. You know how Granny smells when she's been in the workshop awhile?"

"Huh," Ed ruminated. "Are all the books about alchemy?"

"No, it's a _bunch _of different stuff! There's these books on elements and philosophers and...and...Brother, you're supposed to be grounded!"

Ed stomped up to Al's side with a dismissive wave of his hand. "No one's gonna find out! I'll just run back to my room when Mom gets back."

He swept the study with a brazen bounce to his step and absolutely no regard for the forbidden floor. Although the room didn't seem quite so 'forbidden' anymore now that they were both in it. But the study still held a special _feel _to it. Almost like it was a world that belonged solely to the two of them and had only been waiting for the proper owners to claim it.

Al shook his head sadly. No, that was silly. This was _Dad's _room. He would certainly want it back once he came home again.

But...maybe if they asked nicely he would share it with them?

"Let me see that."

Ed took the alchemy book from his hands and carried it over to the desk where he opened a manuscript. Al looked over his shoulder curiously as his brother flipped straight to the middle of the book, comparing the strange patterned circles to a similar design in the manuscript.

"He's an alchemist," Ed murmured. "Look, he's got notes all over the place!"

"What's alchemy?" Al asked, intrigued by this rapt, attentive side to his brother.

"Not sure," Ed answered as he turned back to the first page of the book. "Let's see, there should be an explanation or something...here!"

They both bent their heads over the page as Ed began to read aloud. "'_The Science of Alchemy entails understanding an object's Base Elements, breaking those Elements down and reconstructing them as another object entirely. Those with a rudimentary understanding of the Science will find it within their ability to perform Basic Transmutations with the aid of the Arrays described in this book._'"

"So what does all that mean?" Al inquired. "All that 'breaking down' and 'reconstructing' stuff? Does that mean if we read this book then we can change things into whatever we want?"

"I think," Ed said thoughtfully, rereading the first sentences. "I think it means that if we learn alchemy we can change things into things they're already similar to. Like water into ice."

"So," Al said slowly, and then he cried out in excitement. "So we could change the rain outside into snow!"

"Or into air!" Ed exclaimed. "We could make the rain go away for good if we learned alchemy!"

"Let's do that! Brother, I wanna try that!"

"We can't try _now._ It says we've gotta learn the elements and the laws before we—"

"_Edward! Alphonse!_"

Al met Ed's eyes in panic when they heard the front door open and their mother calling them. Ed tucked the book under his arm and slammed the manuscript shut before making a run for the door with Al right behind him. Ed fled into his bedroom and Al just barely got the study door closed before Mother came around the corner with her raincoat on and her arms full of groceries.

"There you are, Al," Mother said with a smile. "You can tell your brother that he can come out of his room now. And dinner will be ready soon, so no snacks!"

"Okay, Mom!" Al chimed happily, retreating to Ed's room as soon as she was out of sight. His brother had resumed his place on the bed, but now he was lying on his stomach with the alchemy book open across his pillow. A thinking line marred his forehead, and he was already on the third page.

"Brother, did you hear…?"

"Uh huh," Ed said distractedly. "Come here, did you see this?"

Al crawled onto the bed beside him. There were a few moments of nudging and poking and muttered words before they settled down side by side. "What are you looking at?"

"This, right here," Ed told him, pointing at a passage. "It's talking about different kinds of alchemy. '_Before attempting any sort of transmutation, the beginner alchemist must have a firm grasp of the Structure and Composition of the Elements pertaining to his or her chosen field. Mineral Alchemy (alchemy involving the natural minerals found in the earth's crust) is the most common, but other fields include Water, Metal-Working, and Biological Alchemy, though some alchemists branch into their own line of research not pertaining to any known field_.'"

Al looked at him with a wild grin. "Which alchemy do you think Dad learned?"

"Who _cares_ what he learned?" Ed proclaimed boldly. "I say we learn 'em all so we can be better than he ever was!"

He shuffled down on the bed so he could rest his chin on his arms, eyes distant. "Maybe then...Mom won't miss him so much..."

"What does this mean?" Al asked, pointing at the third paragraph. "The Law of Equivalent Exchange?"

"Let me see," Ed ordered, craning to see Al's side of the book. "'_The beginner alchemist must know and comprehend the Fundamental Laws of Alchemy before a practical application of the Science may be applied. The most important of these Laws being the Law of Equivalent Exchange, which states that..._'"

Al scooted a little closer to follow along over Ed's shoulder. Outside, the rain continued to fall and thunder sounded ominously in the distance, rattling the windows in warning. But Al paid it no heed. His mission to save his brother's neck had been a success, and his own boredom alleviated at the same time. For the first time in eight days the rain was the last thing on his mind.

As long as they had alchemy they never needed to fear the rain again.


End file.
